绝望 絕望 jué wàng to despair / to give up all hope / desperate / desperation syn 危急 wēi jí critical / desperate (situation) syn 残局 殘局 cán jú endgame (in chess) / desperate situation / aftermath (of a failure) 走投无路 走投無路 zǒu tóu wú lù to be at an impasse (idiom) / in a tight spot / at the end of one's rope / desperate syn 惨烈 慘烈 cǎn liè bitter / desperate syn 力挽狂澜 力挽狂瀾 lì wǎn kuáng lán to pull strongly against a crazy tide (idiom) / fig. to try hard to save a desperate crisis syn 死战 死戰 sǐ zhàn fight to the death / desperate struggle syn 殊死 shū sǐ to behead / capital punishment / desperate struggle / life-and-death syn 落难 落難 luò nàn to meet with misfortune / to fall into dire straits syn 饥寒交迫 飢寒交迫 jī hán jiāo pò beset by hunger and cold (idiom) / starving and freezing / in desperate poverty syn 拮据 jié jū hard pressed for money / in financial straits syn 颠沛流离 顛沛流離 diān pèi liú lí homeless and miserable (idiom) / to wander about in a desperate plight / to drift syn 燃眉之急 rán méi zhī jí lit. the fire burns one's eyebrows (idiom) / fig. desperate situation / extreme emergency syn 倒悬 倒懸 dào xuán lit. to hang upside down / fig. in dire straits 落魄 luò pò down and out / in dire straits / unrestrained / unconventional / also pr. [luo4 tuo4] 回天 huí tiān to reverse a desperate situation 血路 xuè lù desperate getaway (from a battlefield) / to cut a bloody path out of a battlefield 汪道涵 wāng dào hán Wang Daohan (1915-2005), former president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits 落拓 luò tuò down and out / in dire straits / unrestrained / unconventional syn 海基会 海基會 hǎi jī huì Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), semi-official organization established by the ROC government in Taiwan 亡命之徒 wáng mìng zhī tú runaway (idiom) / desperate criminal / fugitive syn 苦境 kǔ jìng grievance / dire straits syn 火烧眉毛 火燒眉毛 huǒ shāo méi mao lit. the fire burns one's eyebrows (idiom) / fig. desperate situation / extreme emergency syn 江八点 江八點 jiāng bā diǎn Jiang Zemin's 江澤民|江泽民[Jiang1 Ze2min2] eight propositions on developing relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, presented in a 1995 speech 弹尽粮绝 彈盡糧絕 dàn jìn liáng jué out of ammunition and no food left (idiom) / in desperate straits syn 不可终日 不可終日 bù kě zhōng rì to be unable to carry on even for a single day / to be in a desperate situation syn 逼上梁山 bī shàng liáng shān driven to join the Liangshan Mountain rebels / to drive to revolt / to force sb to desperate action syn 弹尽援绝 彈盡援絕 dàn jìn yuán jué out of ammunition and no hope of reinforcements (idiom) / in desperate straits 死马当活马医 死馬當活馬醫 sǐ mǎ dāng huó mǎ yī lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom) / fig. to keep trying everything in a desperate situation 狗急跳墙 狗急跳牆 gǒu jí tiào qiáng a cornered dog will jump over the wall (idiom) / to be driven to desperate action syn 穷鼠啮狸 窮鼠嚙狸 qióng shǔ niè lí a desperate rat will bite the fox (idiom) / the smallest worm will turn being trodden on 釜底游鱼 釜底游魚 jǐn dǐ yóu yú a fish at the bottom of the pot (idiom) / in a desperate situation 死马当活马医 死馬當活馬醫 sǐ mǎ dàng huó mǎ yī lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom) / fig. to keep trying everything in a desperate situation 釜底游鱼 釜底游魚 fǔ dǐ yóu yú a fish at the bottom of the pot (idiom) / in a desperate situation 三旬九食 sān xún jiǔ shí lit. to have only nine meals in thirty days (idiom) / fig. (of a family) on the brink of starvation / in dire straits 倒悬之急 倒懸之急 dào xuán zhī jí lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom) / fig. extremely critical situation / dire straits 倒悬之苦 倒懸之苦 dào xuán zhī kǔ lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom) / fig. extremely critical situation / dire straits 解民倒悬 解民倒懸 jiě mín dào xuán lit. to rescue the people from hanging upside down (idiom, from Mencius) / to save the people from dire straits 颠沛 顛沛 diān pèi to fall over / to stumble / (fig.) to suffer hardship / to be in desperate straits 穷蹙 窮蹙 qióng cù hard-up / in dire straits / desperate 背城借一 bèi chéng jiè yī to make a last-ditch stand before the city wall (idiom) / to fight to the last ditch / to put up a desperate struggle syn 赤贫者 赤貧者 chì pín zhě desperate poor 大旱望云霓 大旱望雲霓 dà hàn wàng yún ní lit. looking for rain clouds in times of drought (idiom) / fig. desperate for an escape from a difficult situation syn 海峡交流基金会 海峽交流基金會 hǎi xiá jiāo liú jī jīn huì Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) / abbr. to 海基會|海基会[Hai3 ji1 hui4] 海峡两岸关系协会 海峽兩岸關係協會 hǎi xiá liǎng àn guān xi xié huì PRC Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) 海协会 海協會 hǎi xié huì Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) / abbr. for 海峽兩岸關係協會|海峡两岸关系协会[Hai3 xia2 Liang3 an4 Guan1 xi5 Xie2 hui4] 海峡时报 海峽時報 hǎi xiá shí bào The Straits Times 倒悬之危 倒懸之危 dào xuán zhī wēi lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom) / fig. extremely critical situation / dire straits 峇峇娘惹 bā bā niáng rě Peranakan Chinese (Baba-Nyonya), an ethnic group of Chinese residing in the Malay peninsula (also known as Straits Chinese) 废统 廢統 fèi tǒng "abandonment of reunification", abolition of the cross-straits reunification committee 柔佛海峡 柔佛海峽 róu fó hǎi xiá Straits of Johor (between Malaysia and Singapore) 落托 luò tuō down and out / in dire straits / unrestrained / unconventional 落泊 luò bó down and out / in dire straits / unrestrained / unconventional 陈云林 陳雲林 chén yún lín Chen Yunlin (1941-), chairman of PRC Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) 海峽兩岸關係協會|海峡两岸关系协会[Hai3 xia2 Liang3 an4 Guan1 xi5 Xie2 hui4] (2008-2013) 鞑靼海 韃靼海 dá dá hǎi Straits of Tartary between Sakhalin and Russian mainland 关于海峡制度的公约 關於海峽制度的公約 Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits / Montreux Convention 蒙特勒公约 蒙特勒公約 Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits / Montreux Convention 财团法人海峡交流基金会 財團法人海峽交流基金會 Straits Exchange Foundation 海峡航行规则和建议 海峽航行規則和建議 Rules and Recommendations on Navigation through the Straits 涸辙之鲋 涸轍之鮒 hé zhé zhī fù lit. a fish in a dried-out rut (idiom) / fig. a person in dire straits syn 